Interview with a Local Author

We met up with local author Moira Shields at The Wildfowl and Wetland Trust [WWT] Caerlaverock to chat about her newly published book (and ask her lots of interesting questions!). We had a great time, with lots of laughs!

Moira is a proud Doonhamer. Born on the 2nd floor of Cresswell Maternity Hospital (so her mum tells her!), she attended Collin Primary then went on to Dumfries High School. A fortuitous choice of course in her 5th year laid out the map of her professional life. Moira chose to serve her work experience in a nursing role and found herself working at the Crichton. There was no looking back!

Now a staff nurse at Dumfries & Galloway Royal Infirmary (DGRI), Moira clearly loves her job! And her colleagues, of whom she speaks most highly. “They’re a great team!” She holds the staff aspirations of ‘always wanting to do even better’ close to her heart.

Moira has lived in Caerlaverock for approximately 14 years. She moved here from Dumfries when her youngest niece was 5. Moira started writing her book, Stella Pancakes, for her niece all that time ago. She used to come to Caerlaverock on her holidays and was spellbound by her Aunt’s location – Moira lives in the grounds of Caerlaverock Castle! [What a view!]

Whilst the book could be based anywhere in the world, if you know Caerlaverock Castle, you will be able to recognise that that’s where it’s set.

Friendship

She talked of the importance of friendships. Moira has ‘unconditionally phenomenal friends’. She would pop round for a coffee and ask her friend’s opinion on parts of the book, or on the characters. All the characters are based on people Moira knows. Her friends might well recognise parts of themselves as the characters!

Stella Pancakes is Moira’s first book. The name ‘Stella’ comes from Moira’s Aunt Stella, who lived on the Mull of Galloway. Moira was very close to her aunt, and remembers every time she went to the farm, her Aunt Stella would cook her fresh pancakes of the grid on her Aga, and she would eat them hot.

Writing

Moira writes at home, and she also writes at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust [WWT] Caerlaverock. She says it’s very inspiring here. “In the summer you can go and walk where the geese graze in the winter. You can shut yourself off”, which is really important – especially as a writer. “You go into your own world of what’s going on in your head to put down on paper”. When you walk down the main avenue at the WWT, there’s a tree with a huge hole in it! That’s where Moira got the idea for the bit when the children are hiding in her book. Another reason Moira is such a supporter of the WWT, “I think it’s very important that people are aware that animals are very precious, especially as they become rarer, we should be looking after them.”

An important theme in Stella Pancakes is that Stella isn’t brought up by her parents – she is brought up by her aunts. “It’s very important for children to have people who will love them, even if their parents aren’t there.”

Moira had no idea her small story for Chloe would one day become a book! She started writing it when Chloe was 5. She is now 19! She didn’t write constantly in that time, there were stops and starts.

Illustration

Moira was delighted to find Eilidh Clemie, who is 15 and attends Dumfries Academy after a long journey to find an illustrator! They have a very good relationship e.g. Eilidh has drawn a little mouse which isn’t in the story, but it’s now going to be transferred into the second book which is underway. “Eilidh would translate the images in my head. The characters are full of fun! It’s been a great adventure for both of us!”. Moira hopes the second book won’t take as long to write as the first!

Moira (and her friends) think that her book would be suitable for children around ages 5 to 11. Moira has read parts of Stella Pancakes to many local school classes, including Caerlaverock Primary School.

For someone else wanting to write a book, Moira suggests that “everyone is able to write, it’s just getting the confidence. We live in such a busy world now, sometimes finding the time is the tricky thing”. One of the schools she visited does a school magazine and her advice for a similar question was “Don’t be disheartened if you don’t like what you’ve written, go back and look at what you’ve written. Sometimes it’s just looking at it on a different day or at a different time.”

‘What’s important to me as a person? What do I believe in?’
“Preservation of animals is very important to me; friendship is unbelievably important to me. I’ve been lucky with my friends! To be loved is important. From a professional side, we can talk about things, personal things, and it doesn’t go any further, that is trust. Our network of communication is fabulous, working as a team is vital. We have a multi-skilled, cracking crew!”

Moira says that you might see her at WWT Caerlaverock (“with no make-up on and not looking particularly tidy”!) with her little notepad book and pen (a gift!) handwriting the second book. The plan is all in her head!

One of Moira’s favourite authors is Jane Austen – she’s lost count of how many times she’s read Pride and Prejudice.

Book Launch

Moira had around 200 guests to her launch party at Waterstones in Dumfries on the evening of 22nd March this year (2018)! Waterstones are very good at supporting local authors. ‘I’ve been very lucky with local support.’ Moira has also been picked as one of the children’s authors at the Wigtown Book Festival this year at 4pm on Sunday 23rd September – she is very excited (nervous!) – go along and support her there!

You can find Stella Pancakes in The Boathouse, Glencaple and at WWT Caerlaverock as well as Barry Smart’s Newsagents in Castle Douglas and at Waterstones in Dumfries!

Online sales coming soon.